last.fm

The Last.fm app has been effectively abandoned for several years, but today it has finally been updated with a design that won't make your eyes bleed. If that's not a worthwhile improvement, I don't know what is. There are a few other improvements too. Stop spoiling us, Last.fm.

As if there weren't enough contenders out there for music subscription service, Slacker Radio has updated its business model. You can still get the standard ad-supported radio station features that were always available. However the company has added a Spotify-like buffet option for $10/month. Pony up the dough and you can remove all ads and listen to as many tracks as you want.

The combination is pretty powerful, as one of the biggest complaints over Spotify is its discovery problems.

I've used Last.fm for a couple of years now, logging (or, in their terminology, "scrobbling") over 58,000 tracks as I listen to them. It's kind of your music player's "most played" list on steroids, as it's cross-compatible with everything.

Last.fm also works with local event listings, as well; they've just released a new app called "Festivals" that will hopefully find its way to music fans' phones everywhere.

Festivals works like a trip planner to make sure you get the most out of your festival experience.

LauncherPro developer Fredrico Carnales made headlines a couple of months ago by announcing that, on top of maintaining his popular homescreen replacement, he was going to tackle development on a music app. That app, now named UberMusic, has made it out to the public in the form of a downloadable beta.

And damn, does this app look good. It downloads artist/album data in the background, allowing the menu wallpapers to be spiced up with some truly awesome art.

Have I gotten a treat for you music lovers? Winamp, the very first good music player for Windows - and one I still use religiously to this day - hit the Android Marketplace today, largely unnoticed in the Androidosphere.

It's still in Beta, but after using it for 15 minutes, I was so impressed that I set it as my default player and uninstalled the others. Let me tell you why, in the order of importance.